


Hey Captain, did you ever rest? (No,  I did not.)

by Kayoi1234



Series: Reincarnation is horrible, but it'll work out in the end. [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Dazai-Typical Suicide Attempts (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai-Typical Suicide Mentions (Bungou Stray Dogs), Gen, In which an author has no idea what they're doing, It's probably horribly OOC, Reincarnation, Suicide Attempt, Why Did I Write This?, a leg gets ripped off in here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 08:23:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16573046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayoi1234/pseuds/Kayoi1234
Summary: Atsushi grows up in an orphanage that does not love him. His world is filled with pain, of locked metal cages and nights of stealing food because he always goes hungry far too fast.(Steve grew up in 1940’s Brooklyn, hacking up his lungs nearly every night, with the Great Depression and the War raging around every corner)(There’s no Bucky is this world, but they power through it.)Atsushi Nakajima and Steve Rogers.Unlikely, but not impossible.





	Hey Captain, did you ever rest? (No,  I did not.)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Bungou Stray Dogs or Captain America.  
> Also, I don't know what I'm doing, I'm so sorry.

Steve Rogers dies by Thanos’s hand. The war over the infinity stones end when they snap everything apart and together, and he dies in the process. That’s Earth-199999.

And that’s it. That ends the legacy of Captain America, and all he stands for.

Several Universes away, specifically Earth-1909, a little boy named Atsushi Nakajima opens his eyes.

And whose to say that these events don’t relate to one another?

-LINE BREAK-

Atsushi grows up in an orphanage that does not love him. His world is filled with pain, of locked metal cages and nights of stealing food because he always goes hungry far too fast.

_(Steve grew up in 1940’s Brooklyn, hacking up his lungs nearly every night, with the Great Depression and the War raging around every corner)_

_(There’s no Bucky is this world, but they power through it.)_

-LINE BREAK-

When the tiger attacks and Atsushi is kicked out of his orphanage, Atsushi stands up and keeps walking.

He stops when he looks in an alley way, and sees a kid getting beaten by a few older ones.

_(This is where the deviations begin. This is where the timeline begins to break away. And it starts with this.)_

“Hey!” Atsushi ends up shouting. “Why don’t you leave him alone?”

The kids walk towards him, cracking their knuckles. “Do you know who you’re messing with kid?”

Atsushi is not really a hero. He’s really just a kid who has no survival instincts and a tendency to do good.

“I don’t like bullies.” Atsushi says, putting his fists up. “I don’t care where they’re from.”

_(Abraham Erskine asked if he wanted to kill Nazis._

_Steve Rogers had looked him in the eye and said “I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from.”)_

-LINE BREAK-

Atsushi gets beaten in an alleyway. He’ll heal.

The boy they were attacking earlier looked at him. “Why did you save me?”

Atsushi grins, and says “Seemed like the right thing to do.”

Atsushi stands up, winces, and holds out a hand. “My name is Atsushi Nakajima. What’s yours?”

The boy grins. “I’m Kyusaku Yumeno! But you can call me Q!”

Yumeno shakes his hand.

_(In another world, Atsushi meets Yumeno much later, under much darker circumstances. Yumeno is still part of the mafia, but there is a lighter future for him in this universe.)_

-LINE BREAK-

He sits next to a river, hungry.

His metabolism is a lot higher, and he hasn’t eaten in a few days.

He could steal from the next person that walks past, but that doesn’t feel right. So he sits by the river bank, hungry, tired, cold.

_(The artic water was cold, and Steve still has flashbacks to freezing below the waves in a plane)_

Atsushi hears a splash, and he looks up to see a man float listlessly down a river.

Without a second thought, Atsushi runs and dives in, and drags the man back to shore.

Then he rests his hands on his knees and pants while he waits.

-LINE BREAK-

The man wakes up, and the first thing he says is “I made it. Damn.”

 _Damn_? Atsushi wordlessly asks. _You get saved from drowning and all you can say is “Damn”?_

“Are you the one who interrupted my submersion?” The man asks, turning to Atsushi. Atsushi looks at him like he’s gone mad.

_(Steve…Steve doesn’t really know what to think about this man. Sure, World War 2 brought Fatalistic humour, but this man…is kind of strange.)_

Atsushi looks away. “I was just trying to help.”

He processes the sentence the man just said.

“Wait, submersion?”

“You don’t know what I mean by that?” The man says. “I was trying to commit suicide.”

_(Steve narrows his eyes.)_

“S-Suicide?” Atsushi half yells, trying to take the information in.

“That’s right. I was trying to kill myself.” The man says, before pulling a face “But you just had to interfere…”

 _Why_ , Atsushi thinks, looking at the man, _am I being lectured for fishing him out of a river?_

“Still,” The man says, interrupting Atsushi’s inner monologue. “my priority is to commit a clean suicide without being a burden to anyone. Yet I did trouble you, so the fault is mine. I should apologise.”

Atsushi’s stomach disagrees.

 _(_ Enhanced Metabolism _, Steve thinks, wincing,_ Is absolutely horrible _.)_

“Are you hungry, boy?” the man questions, looking at him.

“Well…” Atsushi begins, standing on shaking legs. “I haven’t eaten in several days…”

The man’s stomach growls as well. “How odd.” He says, hands in the pockets of his beige coat. “I’m also hungry.”

Atsushi blinks at that. “Wait, then-”

Then man interrupts by turning his pockets inside out, saying “By the way, it looks like the river seems to have taken my wallet.”

Atsushi tries to not look disappointed about that.

“THERE YOU ARE, BLOCKHEAD!” someone yells across the river.

Atsushi turns, and he has to squint to make out the person on the opposite bank. He has…yellow hair? He looks tall. But other than that, Atsushi can’t make out any other details.

“Oh, hey.” The man-from-the-river says, peering at the loud-man. “Nice work, Kunikida-kun!”

The two exchange words, and Atsushi tunes it out, only to snap back when the man addresses him directly.

“Oh right! I have a great idea. He’s a colleague of mine from work, he’ll pay.”

Kunikida yells out “ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!” Atsushi jumps from the volume.

“What’s your name?” the man asks, looking at Atsushi.

Atsushi turns, and looks at him, before saying “Nakajima…Atsushi.”

_(Steve looks at the man, and he sees…Natasha? Maybe? They carry themselves in the same manner…almost.)_

“Well, come along Atsushi-kun! What would you like to eat?” the man says, turning around to leave.

Atsushi ponders it for a minute. What _would_ he like to eat?

He nearly says “Sandwich” before stopping himself and saying “Tea on Rice.”

The man mentions Kunikida treating him to thirty bowls of the stuff, which causes Kunikida to yell “Don’t become generous with my money, Dazai!”

Atsushi stares at the man. “Dazai?” he questions.

“Yeah that’s my name.” Dazai says, and there’s a sense of _threat_ surrounding the man. “I am Dazai. Dazai Osamu.”

-LINE BREAK-

They treat him to tea on rice.

Atsushi ends up eating a lot of it, just so he can satisfy both his hunger and metabolism from killing him. Kunikida yells at him for being rude, while Dazai just watches. Kunikida also complains about how off schedule he is.

_(Steve doesn’t blame Atsushi. He needs the calories, or he’s going to pass out.)_

Kunikida tells him he has no shame.

Atsushi calls them lifesavers.

Kunikida stops looking angry and starts looking confused.

“After leaving the orphanage and coming to Yokohama, I’ve had nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. Add that on top of a stupidly high metabolism, I thought I was going to die of starvation.” Atsushi says.

_(Steve…is familiar with the gnawing pains of hunger. Brooklyn during the war, and the Great Depression, it was hard when you lived on rationing. Especially if you were sick._

_When he played Captain America, he had enhanced metabolism and in the army, he only had rations._

_[Bucky always snuck him food when he wasn’t looking.])_

“You’re from an orphanage?” Dazai asks, fingers laced together.

“Putting it one way, yes.” Atsushi answers, hands in his laps. “But I got kicked out.”

“That’s some non-profit there.”

Kunikida turns, and says that they aren’t philanthropists that go around helping kids down on their luck.

 _(Steve remembers Tony. Despite choosing the opposing side about the Accords, he was a good man._ Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. They should add hero and broken to that _he thinks.)_

“What’s your line of work?” Atsushi asks.

“Oh, we’re just Private Investigators.” Dazai answers.

Atsushi blinks.

Kunikida continues. “That’s not to say we only handle lost pets and infidelity cases. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Armed Detective Agency, an organization with individuals possessing supernatural powers?”

Atsushi had head of them before. He saw them on a passing newspaper.

 _(_ Enhanced? _Steve wonders, when he saw them.)_

“I’ve read about you on a newspaper. I’ve heard rumours.”

Atsushi looks at the two of them and mentally thinks _But are these two really a part of that?_

As if they wanted to prove a point, Dazai talks about hanging himself from the wooden beam above Atsushi, and Kunikida scolding him for it.

“So, about your job today…” Atsushi quietly interrupts, causing Kunikida to turn and say “Yeah?!”

“Sorry!” Atsushi spits out. “I shouldn’t have asked! It’s probably classified!”

“Today’s job doesn’t require secrecy. We’re just looking for a certain tiger on the behalf of the military.” Kunikida says, seemingly calm.

‘A tiger?” Atsushi asks.

Dazai answers. “A man-eater who’s recently appeared in these parts. Well, we’re not sure it’s actually eaten anyone, but it has ransacked warehouses and eaten farm-produce and the like, doing whatever it wants. It’s been spotted around here lately”

Atsushi stands up abruptly, and tries to leave.

“What’s wrong, Atsushi-kun?” Dazai asks.

Atsushi breathes, and says “I’ll be leaving now. G-goodbye.”

He tries to make it to the door.  Kunikida grabs his collar and lifts him up. “Wait. You know something, don’t you?”

“You can’t.” Atsushi says. “No one can take it on!”

“You know the man-eating tiger?”

“Better. It’s after me. I nearly died. If it’s around here, then I need to leave.”

Kunikida drops him, and grabs his arms and forces him to the ground. “Either pay with your arm or tell us everything.”

Dazai tells Kunikida that he’s going to get a complaint.

Dazai squats down, and looks at Atsushi. “What do you know about the tiger?”

“My orphanage was attacked by the tiger. It destroyed our crops, slaughtered the entire flock of chickens, and ravaged our warehouse. No one died, but the orphanage was already on a tight budget, and they kicked the high metabolism kid out. It was probably an easy decision for them.”

“So, boy, what’s this about the tiger nearly killing you?” Kunikida asks.

“It shows up wherever I go.” Atsushi says. “Just a while ago, I was walking around Tsurumi…” he trails off. “It’s hunting me.”

“When was the last time you saw the tiger?” Dazai asks.

“In Tsurumi, about four days ago.” Atsushi answers.

Kunikida says the information adds up. Dazai asks if he’s free.

Atsushi feels a wave of foreboding wash over him. _This can’t be good._

_(The last time someone asked is Steve was free, he ended up fighting Robots on a giant floating island.)_

“You being the man-eater’s target presents an excellent opportunity.” Dazai says, turning around in his chair. “Please help us find the tiger.”

“No.” Atsushi says, clearly not wanting to be near the tiger.

He actually doesn’t have a choice.

-LINE BREAK-

Inside a warehouse, they wait.

“They” being Atsushi and Dazai.

Dazai reads a guide on suicide, Atsushi sits, knees pressed to his chest, and waits.

“Will the tiger really show up here?” Atsushi asks.

“It will.” Is the answer.

Atsushi looks at his feet, and says “The elders at my Orphanage said I should go die in a ditch. They said that no one would care if I did.”

There’s a bang, and Atsushi rolls off a crate onto the floor, one arm in front of him as if he held a shield.

_(It’s practically instinct by now, for both Atsushi and Steve.)_

Dazai tells him something, presents his deductions.

Atsushi lowers his arm and stands up straight. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Then there’s a pain that fills his body, and he blacks out.

-LINE BREAK-

Turns out, he was the tiger.

That’s new.

_(Steve thinks of the transformation, and thinks about the Super Soldier Serum._

_At least it isn’t permanent. So far.)_

-LINE BREAK-

Atsushi wakes up to the smell of Tatami mats.

He wakes up in an unfamiliar room.

_(Steve wakes up in a familiar-yet-unfamiliar room after 70 years of being on ice, asleep._

_They wanted to know how fast it takes for him to figure out that something is wrong._

_Turns out, it’s about 45 seconds.)_

Atsushi looks up at the ceiling. It’s been awhile since he last slept under a roof.

A phone rings. He turns around to pick up the phone behind him and answer the call.

“Hello?” Atsushi asks.

“Good Morning~!” Dazai says, in a sing song voice.

“Oh. Dazai-san” Atsushi says in a flat tone of voice.

‘How’s the dorm?” Dazai asks.

Atsushi says its nice, and thanks him for it. The clothes are for him too, and Atsushi is grateful for that.

Dazai says there’s an emergency and he needs help.

Atsushi gets dressed and goes outside.

_(Steve thinks Dazai sound oddly…calm about the situation.)_

-LINE BREAK-

Dazai is stuck in an oil drum. He can’t get out by himself.

“I see.” Atsushi says, feeling cheated. “It’s a way to commit suicide though.”

“I like suicide, but I don’t like suffering or pain!” Dazai counters.

 _(_ Buddy _, Steve thinks, staring at Dazai,_ Who doesn’t _.)_

Dazai continues talking, and Atsushi tunes it out as he pushes the Oil Drum over with his foot.

-LINE BREAK-

There’s a bomber at the agency. The man has a grudge against the agency.

There’s a bomb. The bomber has a hostage.

Kunikida loses in a game of rock-paper-scissors, and Kunikida loses, and gets sent out.

He ends up on all fours on the desk.

Dazai sends out Atsushi. Atsushi did not agree. He gets sent out anyway.

_(Steve couldn’t lie his way into the army, but they could do by omission? Improvisation is hard.)_

-LINE BREAK-

“S-s-s-stop. Wh-what could you possibly accomplish?” Atsushi asks, already dreading the words coming out of his mouth. _Play the newspaper boy, it’ll be fine_.

Everything is certainly _not_ fine.

Atsushi scrambles to find the words.

“Who are you?!” The bomber asks him.

Atsushi steps back (He does not fall.)

The bomber continues “You’re not with the agency.”

Atsushi struggles. “I’m just…the newspaper boy. I wanted to do my job.”

“And what’s a delivery boy got to do with any of this?” the bomber asks.

Atsushi gulps. What can he say?

“I just want know.” Atsushi says, standing up just a little bit straighter. He feels…confident.

Like that time in the alleyway.

_(Steve stands tall in alleyways, holding a bin lid in front of him.)_

_(This is another deviation. In another world, he played the part of a worthless boy, who had nothing to live for._

_Here, he plays the role of a boy who has been beaten down, so he just gets up again. And again. He could do that all day.)_

Atsushi breathes. “Why are you doing this?”

The bomber pauses. “They’re the reason my sister is dead.”

Atsushi looks him in the eye. “You can’t justify murder by masking it with a cause.”

The bomber pauses. “I used to get beat up a lot. In alleyways, parking lots, behind closed doors.” Atsushi says, walking closer. “But I didn’t run. I didn’t blame them and try to blow them up. You start running, they’ll never let you stop. You stand up, push back…can’t say no forever, right?”

Atsushi is right in front of him. “If you want to avenge your sister, you can start by surrendering.”

‘Now, Kunikida-kun!” Dazai yells.

“I know.” Kunikida says. “Ability: Doppo Poet!” He yells, ripping out a page form his notebook. “Wire gun!”

Kunikida knocks the remote of the bomber’s hand. He apprehends him, and Atsushi breathes out a sigh of relief.

He ends up being distracted, causing the bomber to recover, grab the remote and presses the detonation switch.

Dazai said the explosion can be contained.

There’s no shield made of a metal so strong and rare, it can muffle an explosion, so Atsushi ends up using his body. He shoves the hostage away, and curls up around it.

_(Steve curled up around a grenade once. Jumped on it. Tried to stop the explosion.)_

Dazai calls him an idiot. Kunikida calls him a brat.

Atsushi, well Atsushi only thinks that this might not be the right thing.

_(Steve’s grenade was a dud.)_

The bomb is fake. It doesn’t explode.

He uncurls himself from his position. The bomber, now identified as Tanizaki, says sorry.

The first thing Atsushi says, watching the girl hug her brother into submission is “Was this a test?”

‘That’s right” a new voice says.

A man enters, earing traditional Japanese clothing, and a severe glare. He’s introduced as the President of the Armed Detective Agency.

_(Steve is reminded of Nick Fury.)_

He tells him he’s hired.

Okay, he said it’s Dazai’s decision, but that translates to “He’s hired” anyway.

-LINE BREAK-

“I-I’m sorry.” Tanizaki says, “I know I’ve already apologised, but I feel terrible.”

He guesses their old jobs. Before they joined the agency.

The siblings, Junichiro and Naomi Tanizaki are correctly guessed to be students.

Kunikida is revealed to be a maths teacher.

Dazai…Dazai is an enigma, and one of his guesses is “Soldier”

Dazai pauses, and then tells him he’s wrong.

_(Steve guesses that Dazai’s old job had something to do with killing someone.)_

-LINE BREAK-

The woman has a job for them. Atsushi, to add to his list of extremely terrible luck, gets sent to do it.

It’s only to collect evidence of smuggling, but he receives warning of a dangerous man named Akutagawa, the Port Mafia’s most dangerous asset.

_(To Steve, he thinks of Bucky, that became the Winter Soldier. About Natasha turned into the Black Widow.)_

-LINE BREAK-

It’s a trap.

The woman turns out to be working for the Port Mafia. This day keeps getting better.

Naomi gets shot down trying to defend her brother.

_(Steve sees Pietro Maximoff.)_

Junichiro gets angry, uses his ability _Light Snow_ , and tries to kill her. He gets stabbed by Akutagawa.

Akutagawa tells him that he is their target, He tells them that Atsushi brings nothing but misfortune with him.

Atsushi picks up a fallen bin lid. He looks Akutagawa and says “I think that you’re wrong.”

Akutagawa sends Rashomon at Atsushi, and Atsushi raises the bin lid and parries the black and red tendril to the right of him.  The next strike splits the lid in half, so Atsushi drops it, and ducks as he moves to the entrance of the Alley way. Next to a wall.

Rashomon rips off his right leg.

Atsushi screams.

_(Steve’s heard somewhere that losing a limb is like losing a close friend. He doesn’t think is comparable at all. The pain he felt losing Bucky, and the pain Bucky felt losing his arm could never be compared to one another.)_

Akutagawa turns, and, and says “Well, we’ll secure him.”

“No you won’t” Atsushi manages to say between gritted teeth. Losing his leg _hurt_ , but he’ll ignore it for now, pushing himself up against the wall, blood dripping from the stump that used to be his right leg.

“I could do this all day.” Atsushi says, and roars as the Tiger takes over, and grows back his leg.

The rest occurs in a blur.

-LINE BREAK-

Atsushi wakes up in the infirmary, with no recollection of what just happened. He…lost a leg, right?

His hand grabs the thigh of his right leg and moves down.

His leg is still there. _His leg is still there._

Atsushi breathes out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding in. He lets go of his leg and leans back.

For some reason, he was expecting a song he didn’t know to be playing, a vibranium shield leaning against his bed, a friend sitting in the chair next to him.

_(That’s familiar to Steve. Rescued from a helicarrier that crashes into a river, and waking up in a hospital bed with Sam beside him.)_

Instead, the infirmary is quiet, save for Kunikida’s breathing, and the occasional flipping of a page.

Instead of saying anything, Atsushi stays silent, and counts the amount of times he’s nearly died.

There’s one too many.

-LINE BREAK-

He remembers Akutagawa’s words.

_“You bring misfortune to those around you, were-tiger, wherever you go.”_

Atsushi leans against the wall, thinking about that. His right leg was sending up sparks of pain earlier _(Phantom pain, if he remembered it correctly)_ , so he sat down and let it sort itself out.

_“You bring misfortune to those around you, were-tiger, wherever you go.”_

Atsushi sits in that hallway, right leg throbbing in pain, and says “Then I guess I’ll have to prove you wrong.”

( _Steve places a hand on Atsushi’s shoulder and says “Even when the whole world tells you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world ‘No. You Move.’”)_

-LINE BREAK-

Atsushi can’t leave the agency, his leg was flaring up in phantom pain of having a leg grow back that he’s been stuck at his desk for the majority of the day.

The Port Mafia’s Black Lizard squad comes to try and eliminate them all. They fail to complete their job and get thrown out the window.

Atsushi would of helped, but his leg was really beginning to hate movement, so he stayed still. _(His leg is still there so why did it still **hurt** )_

He leans against the table, and begins to help with clean up.

-LINE BREAK-

“Dazai isn’t picking up his phone?”

Atsushi nods, his cell phone in hand. “He won’t answer.”

“It’s probably nothing.” Kunikida says, returning to his report.

Atsushi frowns. “He’s been MIA for a few hours, shouldn’t that be concerning?”

The rest of the agency do not voice any concerns.

Atsushi mutters “This might as well be happening.” under his breath.

“I’ll look into it.” Junichiro says from the door.

Atsushi turns, and says “Ah, Tanizaki-san, are you all better now?”

Tanizaki goes and says that he’s fine, Kunikida asks how many times he’s been dissected.

Tanizaki shudders and says “Four. Four times.”

Then Atsushi, against his will, is being dragged to go shopping with Yosano.

-LINE BREAK-

Atsushi holds Yosano’s packages and walks behind her. He passes a girl in a kimono.

He turns his head, ever so slightly.

_(Natasha…?)_

The girl looks at him with dead eyes, before turning and leaving, causing Atsushi to bump into a man who begins yelling at him.

Until Yosano comes in a threatens to break his arm.

_(“Yeah, perfectly sane.” Steve mutters, watching the scene. “This is completely normal.”)_

-LINE BREAK-

The man posing as the train conductor asks for his head.

Yosano turns to go to the front of the train. “We have three options. One: You give yourself up. Two: We jump off the train with as many passengers as possible. Three.” She gives a smile that promises nothing but pain.

“We beat them into the ground?” Atsushi says, and Yosano’s smile grows bigger.

They agree to split up, and he makes his way to the back of the train, only stopping once to pick up a seat backing and carrying it with him.

He doesn’t know why, but he thinks it’s important if he does.

-LINE BREAK-

The girl he passed that day is the Port Mafia Assassin Kyouka Izumi. Her ability is Demon Snow.

It would have skewered him if he didn’t have the seat he liberated.

The seat is carved into two, so he drops it, and the second blow comes, and he strictly _doesn’t_ need arms to function in society right?

The blade never cuts him. His arm is of a tiger.

 _(_ That’s… _Steve thinks, bewildered,_ new…)

Atsushi blinks, dodges the next few stabs and points the tiger claws at Kyouka’s throat.

Yosano speaks, Kyouka reveals to be wearing a bomb vest, Atsushi accidently starts the countdown, and Kyouka pushes him away.

“My name is Kyouka!” She yells, tears falling down her face. “I have killed 35 people in 6 months. But I don’t want to kill ever again, not ever!”

She jumps off the train.

_(Steve remembers Bucky falling off a train, and all he could do was watch as he fell. Like hell this was going to happen again.)_

Atsushi’s legs becomes those of a tigers, and he jumps, ripping the bomb vest and throwing it as far as he can, before tucking Kyouka close and letting himself it the water first.

-LINE BREAK-

Atsushi pants as Kyouka coughs up water.

She stares at him. “Why did you save me?”

Atsushi stares back. “I don’t measure people’s lives. I save them.”

Then he passes out.

-LINE BREAK-

Yosano checked him over, as well as advice for the phantom pain, and then he sat, and waited for Kyouka’s recovery.

“What have you done this time brat?” Kunikida asks.

Atsushi looked up at Kunikida, and says “I’ve said it before. I don’t measure people’s lives. I save them.”

_(Steve is a soldier. A hero. A vigilante. Whatever he is, if he sees someone needing help, he goes and helps.)_

-LINE BREAK-

He takes her where she wishes to go. She’s also managed to run him dry of money.

The last place is the Police station. Atsushi turns to her and says “Are you sure?”

Kyouka nods. “I have to.”

Atsushi looks at her, then feels a stabbing pain in his gut. He looks down to see a black and red tendril sticking out of his stomach.

“Oh.” Atsushi says, staring at it. “That can’t be good.”

He passes out when he gets thrown into a truck, the blood loss making him loopy.

_(Steve tries to keep his spirit intact.)_

-LINE BREAK-

When Atsushi wakes again, it’s to Kyouka opening the doors of the shipping container he’s in.

He blinks at the light assaulting his face.

“Come.” Kyouka says quietly, and Atsushi does.

-LINE BREAK-

Akutagawa tries to stop him.

Atsushi knows he could fight him. He could. But instead, he stands and says “What are you trying to prove?”

Akutagawa stops, and drops Kyouka, who he had been strangling earlier. “What did you say, were-tiger?”

Atsushi takes a step towards him, and winces when a spike of pain shoots up his right leg. He ignores it as he says “What are you trying to prove? That you’re strong? That you’re _useful_?”

Akutagawa hackles raise and he yells “I suggest you shut up before I make you.”

Atsushi does not shut up. He keeps talking. “You’re trying to prove something, right? Is it for validation? For power? Do you need to impress someone?”

Akutagawa’s coat rises up, Rashomon flaring up with it’s host’s anger. “I said _shut up!”_

“I’m getting to you! I’m bothering you!” Atsushi yells, staring at him.  “And with what? _Words?_ They’re just words after all, they can’t hurt you! Not unless they’re the _truth_!”

Akutagawa growls and Rashomon comes at him, and Atsushi transforms his legs into that f a tiger and dodges.

_(But here is the difference. In another world, Atsushi fights with the intent to stop Akutagawa forever. He fights because he had to, he fights for survival. He fights for the right to live._

_In this one, this is Steve, who had already lived and died. This is an Atsushi who kept getting beaten down so he just stands up again. This is an Atsushi who fights so that others don’t have too._

_In this world, Atsushi does not fight for the right to live, but so that people can see the sun rise tomorrow.)_

-LINE BREAK-

He manages to escape with Kyouka, and they are picked up by Kunikida.

Atsushi blinks at the sun, and he mutters quietly “I’m alive.”

_(Steve chuckles. It’s been a while he could stare up at the sky without war.)_

 


End file.
